OpenAI has denied allegations that paid ChatGPT users are being shown advertisements. The controversy started after a few screenshots went viral on social media, showing ad-like content appearing below ChatGPT responses during unrelated conversations. Amid growing criticism, an OpenAI official said that these screenshots were “either not ads or not real.”

Are ads really appearing on ChatGPT?

In a post on X, OpenAI’s Chief Research Officer Mark Chen acknowledged that any ad-like content inside ChatGPT must be handled very carefully. He also admitted that the company “fell short” in this situation.

The issue escalated on December 3 when X user @BenjaminDEKR claimed that while searching for information about Windows BitLocker, they received a shopping suggestion for Target. The user wrote, “I’m on ChatGPT’s paid Plus plan, and it’s showing me an ad to shop at TARGET.” The post received millions of views, prompting a clarification from OpenAI Data Scientist Daniel McAuley.

According to McAuley, what the user saw was not an advertisement but an integrated partner app. He explained that after DevDay, OpenAI launched several partner apps—such as Target—and has been testing more natural ways to surface these apps within chats.

However, the user argued that if a brand appears in an unrelated conversation and encourages shopping, it should still be considered an advertisement.

Mark Chen later said that such suggestions have been temporarily disabled while the model’s accuracy is improved. He also mentioned that new user controls will be introduced to limit or completely turn off these suggestions.

In another post, Nick Turley, Head of ChatGPT, clarified that OpenAI is not running any live ad tests, and any screenshots circulating online are either misunderstood or not genuine.